In my city, an infant was found in an apartment complex hallway and the media and news comments all centered around this horrible mother who “abandoned” him. She turned up dead in the trunk of her own car. How did race and class play a role in the reporting of this crime? Women are real whether they have curves or not, but when is a woman not a real woman?
She terrorized and bullied her community, but the worst was the violence in her own home– Gun-toting Soccer Mom Shot by Husband To defend the right to walk unarmed in our own public space– A Different Kind of Courage A Lesbian interpretation of Leviticus brings new insight and a good laugh– Amen,Sister
Quite a BDSM focus to some stuff, one of my partners and I got interviewed by XOJaneUK http://www.xojane.co.uk/sex/a-beginners-guide-to-having-a-bdsm-relationship I wrote something for Queers for Jesus about submission. http://queersforjesus.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/submission-christianity-and-bdsm/ My reaction to #transdocfail, Suzanne Moore and why feminism must include trans* people http://itsjustahobby.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/do-you-have-sex-like-a-girl/
Got Recipes? — My New Year’s resolution is to like food, and one way I’m trying that is to experiment with new recipes. Getting a Better Body [note for weight loss, diet talk] — On how many of the diet and weight loss ads seem to operate on the idea that you can somehow “trade in” the body you have. Falling, Flying, & Handstands — My thoughts on a Jack Gilbert poem.
Why I stopped “hate watching” and am now looking forward to the new season of Girls. I also wrote a brief post about my city making the Advocate’s list of 15 gayest cities in the US, and why the state as a whole still fails when it comes to LGBT rights.
The Problem With a Hard of Hearing Darth Vader : A youtube video has become extremely popular suggesting that Darth Vader cannot hear because of his helmet. The problem is that it encourages people to laugh at disability. Steampunk and the Nostalgic Blinkers of Victorian London : Steampunk has become a very popular genre the problem is that in this wave of nostalgia many isms or problematic elements of that society are being erased. The Walking Dead Game : Yes, The Walking Dead has been turned into a video game and this post discusses the good and bad in terms of social justice. Lost Girl, Season Three, Episode One: Caged Fae : Lost Girl has started a new season but unfortunately, the first episode is anti-feminist and transphobic.
‘Django Unchained,’ Quentin Tarantino’s Broken Clock Moment: Though there are several problematic elements with Django and Tarantino’s response to his critics, is it possible he might have added to the discussion about slavery and racism? The Problem With The At Home Stomach Pump: Yes, now there is a device that allows people to pump food directly from their stomachs after eating. The problem of course is that this is nothing more than medically assisted bulimia. I Always Wanted to Know….. : The editors of Madame Noire (a Black woman’s magazine) and the White editors of The Frisky sit down for a conversation on interracial dating. This is the first in a series where Black and White women will be sitting down to discuss historical issues surrounding race and gender. Teens React to Online Bullying: A look at teens responding to the suicide of a young girl who was slut shamed and why it seems that some are starting to get this is wrong.
I wrote about Elizabeth Wurtzel’s head-scratching essay in New York Magazine. Some reactions to the essay called it as a problem of memoir in its self-absorption. I think the work’s intrinsic problem is actually its lack of empathy: Elizabeth Wurtzel and the Value of Memoir… or Empathy
Here’s one: the absolute power of privilege, as demonstrated by two dudes carrying guns around a neighborhood in the name of ‘education’. Nothing like having actual experience to point out what utter bullshit these excuses are. So one Black Panther, armed with a black beret, is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more dangerous than a visibly armed white dude, after how many white dudes with guns have killed how many people since Aurora? How some poeple try to get away with misogyny by offering literary female mouthpieces. And how others accept it.
Stuff I’ve written this week: I must have missed that part of PCU… : On how the right wing comparison between homosexuality and pedophilia, even to the point of suggesting that pedophilia will become the next big civil rights causes, points to a fundamental disregard for the concept of consent. Update on “contempt of cop” cases: Two more cases in which someone gave a police officer the finger, was arrested for “disorderly conduct” in violation of their freedom of speech, and the court later dropped all charges. Being rude to the police: still rather dumb, but not criminal.
Both articles are in Bulgarian. An 11year roma girls has given birth to a child. Instead of talking about sexual assault and the conditions in which something like that happens, almost everything that has been said already in the public sphere is how repulsive roma people are or snide and sexist remarks about something that is basically rape of a minor. I have hear many times people claim that “the woman has the ultimate power, she says if there will be sex or not” but this bothers me. Is that somehow wrong? Isn’t that the idea of sex, to do something that you BOTH want to and not only one of the participants?
I started blogging on One Handed Writers, a blog by erotic authors. Also, on Femmedia: I wrote about the interactive adult game Seduce Me. Popular Erotica and how themes might be less important than style. And how not being a sexist or racist or homophobe in 2013 shouldn’t be a cause for self congratulations.
New this week at Twice Cooked, Chicken Noodle Soup: http://www.twice-cooked.com/2013/01/13/chicken-noodle-soup/ In which I poke some gentle fun at overwrought reporting about the flu season, and offer a recipe for the number-one best home remedy available.
This week I wrote about… a Zero Dark Thirty review, a quick piece on stretch marks, and a detailed primer on the “friend zone.”
A whole lot of rumors have been swirling around about leukemia deaths resulting from Fukushima. But all I hear is a lot of hype without any sustenance to back it up. I decided to examine the facts about the link between cancer and nuclear radiation exposure. What is NOT Science
First why I haven’t been writing, followed by… some writing. On my love for Dr Brennan of ‘Bones’, representation in fiction, and the comfort of recognising yourself in others.
In our global community, every living being matters: http://humaneconnectionblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/in-our-global-community-every-living.html What can we do when children cannot imagine a better world?: http://humaneconnectionblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-can-we-do-when-children-cannot.html
After my piece on Movember got so many unexpected hits, I blogged about Fanuary (and how it’s none of men’s business…) then a couple of piece on the feminist polemics of Dorothy L. Sayers in the 1930s: The Abomination of Suspenders and Are Men Human?
Transitions are hard, and past trauma adds anxiety. When we move mindfully through small and large gaps, we create space in our lives for healing. Navigate Change: Mind the Gap
Here’s a fundraiser for a documentary about the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association. There are only three days left in the fundraising – shame if such a cool project didn’t get made for lack of funds: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/437113209/the-story-of-the-zimbabwe-women-lawyers-associatio?ref=live
Pre-op, post-op, does it matter? – Figuring out how to answer the (inevitable) question about what’s between my legs. Places have names have meanings – A poem about change, and its difficulties And, of course, my continuing fundraiser to pay for my gender reassignment surgery. You can get cool gifts!
I wrote about the sexist advertsing by men’s deodorant brand Lynx. They are running a campaign which will give 22 people the chance to go on a trip into outer space. The adverts make it look like only men can be astronauts, but Outer Space Is For Everyone, Not Just ‘A Few Brave Men’.
Campaign for Southern Equality is traveling across the south holding marriage equality events/rallies in most southern states. Gay and lesbian couples apply for marriage licenses and are refused, including some who are already married in other states. We had over 100 public supporters in the most right-wing county in the USA, which I count as progress.
If the US and UK wanted, they could eliminate the Taliban in two days. They brought them and they can get rid of them. Now they are trying to leave Afghanistan isolated. I don’t understand why the foreign forces would leave now, because they just ensure that the next Afghan crisis will be bigger. Our young people have never lived without bloodshed, and the hunger of youth is a great weapon for fundamentalists. When the conservatives come back they will shoot all these women who have been fighting for justice. Dr Monisa Hassan http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/13/burqa-women-afghanistan-taliban-return
I’ve written #3, which perhaps should have been #1, in the Child-free series, titled Imagining Your Child-Free Life.
This week I wrote a feminist analysis of Pitch Perfect: http://canbebitter.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/rebel-wilson-pride-special-pt-1-pitch-perfect/
Submissions are open for the February Feminist Odyssey Blog Carnival to be posted on Valentine’s Day and all about Feminism and Love. Submit today!: http://smallstrokesbigoaks.com/2013/01/08/fobc-edition-7-posted-and-submissions-open-for-edition-8/ I’m participating in One Word 365 and focusing on the word “present” for the whole year: http://smallstrokesbigoaks.com/2013/01/12/one-word-365-present/ My husband is a ‘mansumer’ – a man who does the shopping. There’s a term for it because it’s a thing now, and man-centered advertising is following. We need to be careful of that hyper-masculinity, and here’s why: http://smallstrokesbigoaks.com/2013/01/13/my-husband-is-a-mansumer/
What’s the point of feminist criticism? You should talk to your kids about death because if you don’t, they’ll learn about it anyway. And what they learn probably won’t be comforting (or accurate). The whole “love yourself” and “love your body” imperative is kinda problematic.
We are thrilled to debut our newest blog series, which details the birth control pill’s amazing history! Exciting scientific discoveries about human physiology, combined with feminist agitation for women’s control over their own fertility, gave us a tiny little pill that changed the world — for the better! In the first installment, learn about early research into hormones and Margaret Sanger’s dreams for a “magic pill,” which she envisioned more than 100 years ago!
Do you like to read Wikipedia? How about–do you like to EDIT Wikipedia? Do you care about wiping out transphobia? If so, please help me! I have been involved in helping write the Wikipedia article on Laura Jane Grace for a while. Laura Jane Grace is the lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me!, and she’s also a trans woman. For a long time, most of her article was written using the last name Grace was born with, “Gabel,” and scrupulously avoiding the words “she” and “her.” I believed this was in violation of Wikipedia policies and guidelines, as well as just being shitty and wrong. So I rewrote the article to use Grace’s current name and “she” more consistently throughout the article. Then someone undid my rewrites. Then I put the rewrites back in. So there has been a back and forth going on between people who want to respect Grace’s identity as a trans woman throughout the article and those who think doing so is “confusing.” We have also been arguing about it on a forum for discussing the Wikipedia article, known as the article’s “talk page.” Basically, I feel like I’m in over my head and would appreciate other people who are knowledgeable about Wikipedia coming in and helping me by arguing the case on her talk page for respecting Grace’s gender. If you do, it’s important that you know your stuff in terms of Wikipedia policies and guidelines and sound as “objective” and “impartial” as possible. This is an emotional issue for me, and I think I’ve already injured my credibility by calling some of the other editors prejudiced (calling people out in this way is a big no-no on Wikipedia) and outing myself as a trans woman and an activist. So if you already know a lot about editing Wikipedia articles and think you could give an informed and dispassionate opinion on my side of the dispute, I would greatly appreciate it. Here is the link to Grace’s talk page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Laura_Jane_Grace Thanks so much for any help anyone can provide!!
Thank you so much for drawing attention to this. Against Me! has been one of my favorite bands for ten years and I have a lot of respect for Laura.
I wrote these two very short plays making the virtual world of OKCupid into a real world bar: http://hollyderr.com/tag/internet-dating-a-play/
I lost my shit when ANOTHER RapePublican, Rep Phil Gingrey, an OB-GYN no less, said that Todd Akin was partially right. My advice to Republican men who are thinking of mentioning rape and abortion rights: DON’T. http://4thwavefeminism.blogspot.com/2013/01/shut-it-down.html
This week I was on holiday and intended the blog to be on hiatus till next week. But then… then Julie Burchill wrote a disgusting, hateful transphobic diatribe in the Guardian- yep, the same paper our very own Jill writes for. So here’s my response: Julie Burchill and trans women Massive, massive TW on that link, by the way, for discussions of violent transphobia, transmisogyny and racism.
The more I think about this, the more depressed and sad about it I get. It’s really hard to accept that it was considered OK by the Observer/Guardian to publish this. Although comparisons like this are not always useful, it’s difficult to believe that the publication would have approved a similarly vile screed about L, G, or B, or any racial or ethnic group.
It seems that The Observer has taken Burchill’s piece (of you-know-what) down, together with all the comments. Cries of censorship by the powerful trans lobby will no doubt follow.
I don’t know about that.. they give Julie Bindel a platform and she’s written some fairly godawful things about bi women in her time. And also, if you read the article it was all started by Suzanne Moore’s quip about “Brazilian transsexuals”. So it seems like they’re doing a pretty good line in racism there already.
Feminists versus transsexuals: Julie Burchill, Suzanne Moore and The Observer spark civil war on the Left ——————————————————————————- Beyond Inclusion http://transfeminisms.wordpress.com/ [link to article on our website by HelenG of BOP]
That first link, from the Telegraph — written by the author of a biography of Pat Buchanan (!) — made me pretty uncomfortable, especially the comments; it seems to be one of those “look how leftists fight with each other, ha ha ha” kind of things.
(YEAH…….) HERE IS A LINK TO THE TRANSFEMINISMS ARTICLES THAT JUST WENT UP IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED ON HATESPEECH AND THE JULIE BURCHELLS OF THE WORLD (ooo sh*t sorry caps am in the dark writing lol_)
(i thought he sounded fairly even handed though): “Personally, I wasn’t offended by the phrase “body … of a Brazilian transsexual” – but then it’s not my place to decide what’s offensive and what’s not when it comes to transgenderism. I’ve not been born in the wrong body, fought for years for the right to change it, undergone complex surgery and then suffered the bigotry of others. Some of those who did find Moore’s line unamusing asked her on Twitter if she could redact it…..”etc (well not “transgenderism.” but better then a lot of columnists,tho. the story quite rightly has legs,however. people are ripping her a new one. about time)
This week at Wom*news, Jocelyn wrote about women, rock music and why being called a ‘bitch’ isn’t such a bad thing. Emma unearthed a fantastic piece of herstory from 1981 where former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh explains why the UQ Union banned the sale of magazines exploiting women. Happy reading everyone!
This week I wrote about how my relationship with my body has changed post-figure skating…and how my resolution for 2013 is to re-connect with the person I used to be… Miraval, the health and wellness spa resort in Tucson, Arizona is also a huge part of the post! 2013: The Year of the Quantum Leap I also wrote about this new workshop series that I’m participating in at Duke University called Write(H)er… my first post is about “social media branding” and how women writers can influence the world… LC Coleman from Colored Girl Confidential was our first guest and she gave an amazing workshop on blogging and the importance of a woman to carve out her own space to express herself. DUKE WRITE(H)ER SERIES: FIRST WORKSHOP WITH LC COLEMAN OF COLORED GIRLS CONFIDENTIAL
Wrote about the potential harm of volunteering overseas as a means to travel – I would love your thoughts on it! http://www.theepicadventurer.com/2013/01/volunteering-aint-always-such-great-idea.html
This week I reviewed The Drowning City, which has a wonderful non-Western fantasy setting. It’s a little slow in places, and has a few problems, but on the whole I’d love to see more books like this.
Native Appropriations and Johnny Depps horrible portrayal of Tonto- http://nativeappropriations.com/2012/04/johnny-depp-as-tonto-im-still-not-feeling-honored.html
Wait, scratch that, that comment was not emphatic enough. The entire blog is super-awesome. I’m bookmarking it. Thanks!
Yes, I hope more readers here go to her blog and offer support. She gets an awful lot of hate mail and hate comments.
Not a promotion, just well, sharing a gross dating pro with ya’ll (ugh). I belong to a meetup group that just had a teleconf on dating with an “expert” answering questions, whoa, feminine mystique anyone? Women don’t want to pursue, they want to be pursued, gah. Anyhow, I went to his website and read this gem: http://legendaryloveforlife.com/polarity-and-pleasers-dont-mix/11/2012#more-1539 where he tells an endearing story about how it was so awesome when his wife said to him “I just want to please you” and then after he gushed about it, his wife said “You know what’s funny? If you had said those exact words to me…I would have found it absolutely repulsive.” He sez: “If the masculine is so weak and indecisive that he becomes a pleaser who can’t hold his space, there’s no way a woman can respect that.” I had to post this here before I posted something truly unfortunate on the meetup group. The dating guru says “As always, I’d love to hear your comments in the space below!” and with Jill away maybe you’ll get bored and comment for him 🙂